Another war story

It was the second day of the ground assault into Kuwait during the first gulf war in March of 1991. As an AP staff photographer, I was embedded and traveling with a group of combat engineers, VII Corps, attached to the US Army 1st Armored Division and 3rd Infantry Division (I hope 20 years and all that scotch didn't just make me transpose the units... I'm usually pretty good with division). 
We were tired from little sleep over 48 hours and almost constantly on the move. Other than finding a severed hand in the desert the day before (reportedly from someone who had tried to pick up one of the many unexploded bomblets lying around in the sand), there was little action. 


Then, on the second night, a battle. Several Iraqi tanks had been spotted and encircled by the infantry and armor and the battle was on. One shot from an Iraqi tank was answered by dozens of U.S. tank rounds and anti-tank missiles.


All through the night there were orange explosions as direct hits were scored. As the night endured, sleep came over me and I slide back inside our APC for a few winks. 


Suddenly I awoke to the unit commander, Capt. Scott Bickel, of Louisiana, nudging me with the butt of his rifle, saying, "Get your cameras and come with me." 


The back hatch opened and I followed the Captain into the sand, looking for the bomblets, hoping not to loose a foot. He walked ahead of me into the early dawn. It was cold and overcast due to all the oil well fires we'd see soon enough. It was southwestern Iraq and through all the shell holes and tank tracks there was little to see.


Suddenly a figure popped up out of a hole. I hit the ground and pointed my camera forward. Bickel knew what he was doing. The man held a piece of wood with a white sheet on it, signaling surrender. Then a dozen others popped up, kneeling with their hands on their heads.


These were the crews of Iraqi tank crews who had abandoned their targeted vehicles and fled for the cover of the sand nearby. There was still errant rounds flying high overhead as retreating tanks were being pursued and Bickel didn't want to risk the safety of his men in that environment, so he did what any good leader would do. He took the mission himself.


He got the Bronze Star for gallantry for that move, and I got to capture a little bit of history. 


More stories later. If you click on the picture you can see it bigger.